Roof Airbag Deployed and Seat Belt stuck!

Robby said:

Regarding the upper air bags.......they come with the headliner as an assembly.

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GM Parts Direct shows them as separate. List price at $750/bag. If the headliner is damaged, that's about $1000. You are correct in that the headliner has to be removed as part of the process. The 2013 service manual says to pull the seats and go though the rear door.

In addition to the airbags, probably have to change a sensor ($200) and maybe the module ($400).

OP, I think the first step is to line up local support. You're going to need someone with a pro scanner to check for codes and do any necessary reprogramming. As far as I can tell, sensors and airbags can be replaced without issues, but if a module has to be replaced, it has to be reprogrammed. But the question is what are the shops wiling to do? It could be the only way they'll touch this is if they do all the work with their parts. There's too much liability if they're involved in a DIY repair that goes wrong.

One thought on a low-cost route - contact the local community colleges. Perhaps they'll be willing to do the repair as part of auto shop training.

It's disappointing that the auction didn't disclose the need for airbags and tensioners. I'd go back to them, and try to get out of the sale. You're going to have more into the repair in parts, than what the auction price probably was.

However, I've had both seats out of the car, and torn down to the frame. There is a seat belt tensioner on the outside of the seat that connects via cable to the seat belt buckle. If these have blown, they might be accessible with the seat in the car, but it could be difficult. See the pictures in my heated seats thread in my signature. Or google "Adding heated seats to LT"

If the seat belt does not retract into the A-Pillar there are explosive pretensioners in the front on each seat belt. When doing the seats I spent some time on Youtube, and there's a video of a Cruze replacing these a-Pillar devices.

Then the main Air Bag controller is behind the console in the front. That may have to be reprogrammed. I had both front seats and the center console completely out of the car to do the heated seats.

The seats at a recycling center were $300-$500 each. this is because each seat contains an airbag, and a seat belt tensioner. While they can be removed from the seat, I'm guessing most shops are selling the entire seat, and not dealing with the disassembly.

Insurance companies and car manufacturers only recommend repair with new OEM replacement parts. Typically you'd replace the sensor that was at the point of impact even if it looks undamaged. That being said, I've rebuilt 4 totaled 1st generation Cruzes. Of those, 3 had front airbag deployment. There are two tensioners on each seat. One is on the outside of the seat base, and the other is in the belt reel. I've bought these components both new and rebuilt. The rebuilt ones came from Five Star Airbags, and they sometimes have new OEM surplus as well as doing SDM resets. On a 2012 the Sensing and Deployment module will need to be reset or replaced after the deployed components are replaced. I was able to do one reset with a GM Tech II, and another with my $200 Launch CRP129. My '13 reset on it's own after replacing components. Airbags, I've bought new surplus or used from bigger salvage yards like LKQ. If you're unfamiliar with this type of repair, I'd look for experienced help, and get your hands on a service manual.

I've never done a Cruze that needed side airbags, but most side deployments rip the headliner at the handle. It can be made to look better, but will never be perfect. These cars are old enough that there are always some being parted on Craigslist. It shouldn't be too hard to find a good used one. Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market is a good way to search local yards.